Organization XIII: Highschool
by nobodymuch
Summary: A completely pointless fic I thought up while reading one of my books. See all of the Organization XIII members in their highschool years, before they became Nobodies... yes, it DOES have more of a plot inside. [Larxel]
1. Fire!

**A/N:** I really have no idea what possessed me to write this fic. Quite simply, I suppose it all started when I was in the car this afternoon on the way to Birmingham--which was two and a half whole hours away. So, while reading one of my many Manga books, I was amazed at how much the relationship reminded me of Larxene and Axel.  
My strange plot began to take form in my mind, and I pictured what they all would've been like in their highschool years, before they became Nobodies.  
;-; I know that this first chapter isn't wonderful. Or even average, for that matter. It's most likely a horrible work that should never, ever, EVER be read by anyone, lest they wish their eyes to bleed. It's two'o'clock in the morning here. I'm dead tired. So please excuse me for this horrible start.

* * *

"ALE!" 

The red-head sighed. She was coming after him. Normally, he quite enjoyed when girls chased him—he was used to it, actually. But he was not happy about the current girl chasing him. Pale blonde, her figure was flattering, and the reason for his hesitancy at her approach was not because she was unattractive.

"Now Arlene, I can explain…" He trailed off in his sentence as the girl finally reached him. His thoughts were somewhat along the lines of: _Shit. _"It was an accident!"

"It was an accident!" Arlene mocked, glaring at him fiercely all the while. As stated before, she was in no way unattractive. However, her current state left her looking somewhat unusual: She was completely drenched from head to foot, water dripping from tips of her hair. The two strands that normally bent like antennae near her forehead were now stuck to her head as though gelled thanks to her being wet. "I'm. Soaking. Wet. AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" She was screaming at him, and a crowd of mildly interested people paused to watch the argument.

Ale couldn't help but allow a grin to spread over his face. It was his ultimate sign of cockiness. "Now, I didn't _mean_ to hit you... I was aiming for Mrs. Nance," he confirmed.

What had happened was this: It was common knowledge throughout all the school that Mrs. Nance was the most hated of the professors they had. She was rather overweight, and hardly knew a thing about the assignments on Language that she gave. Over the past few months, it was rumored that she wore a wig. Ale decided he'd simply kill two birds with one stone by dropping a water balloon from the staircase that led to and from the second story of Twilight Town Highschool—by soaking the professor, it would both make her miserable and cause the wig to slip off, if it was in fact, a wig.

Instead, the boy had been startled when Nance had finally arrived on the scene, seeing as a certain pain in the butt he referred to simply as "Demy" (His real name was hardly ever used by anyone, even the professors—most had actually forgotten his real name, to tell the truth.) had bounded up to greet him at the same time—thus causing Ale's grip on the water balloon to loosen, and send it tumbling down at precisely the wrong moment, landing on a certain blonde with a dramatic _SPLASH!_

Arlene was still glaring at him. "Intentional or not, YOU STILL DRENCHED ME!" she snarled.

He raised an eyebrow, his patience starting to wear thin now. Okay… if she wanted to be mad, he'd give her something to stay mad about. "C'mon, can you honestly say it's NOT an improvement… Buggy?" He smirked, using the nickname he'd dubbed to her since the third grade. When dry, her hair often did remind him of any number of nameable insects.

The girl's cheeks flushed, more with frustration and anger than embarrassment. How she wasn't completely mortified by this point, Ale had no idea. Along with her hair, her school uniform—a crimson sailor-type skirt and white blouse—was soaked to the bone as well. He expected her shoes had also gotten a good amount of water, because they now made odd squishing sounds whenever she took a step forward.

"You're an idiot!" Arlene growled at him. "You're nothing more than a pompous, egotistical, self-centered, cocky, over-confident, pigheaded moron, who cares about nothing more than causing trouble at this school and drawing attention, be it good or bad, to yourself!" Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself somewhat, though her electric-blue eyes were still shooting a furious expression at Ale.

Leaning in to her, his grin only widened. He grabbed her by the shoulder, leaning towards her ear as though he was going to lower his voice to a whisper. Yet when he spoke, his tone was still loud enough for everyone in the surrounding crowd to hear as well. "You're not any better. The only difference is: You've got anger-management problems," he smirked. With that much said he released his grip on her shoulder, looking satisfied.

Arlene's eyes narrowed. "Trust me, Ale. You're going to regret this. I can assure you of that," she hissed, before stomping away in the other direction.

Someone in the crowd clapped and stepped forward. No… two someones stepped forward. Ienzo and Dulor. Dulor smirked slightly. "Subtle as ever, Ale," he smirked.

Ale rolled his eyes. "I'm afraid not all of us are perfect gentlemen like you." This was said with some sarcasm.

Ienzo was usually quiet, but he did love to leave a smart alec comment or two every now and then. "I'd watch my back if I were you," he noted. "She sure seemed to mean what she said."

The red-head pondered the warning, then grinned cockily, placing his hands behind his head. He couldn't wait to see what she had in store for him.

---

In an empty hallway, Arlene rested with her head against the wall—obviously, she was in no hurry to get to class. Why the hell had he dropped a freaking water balloon on her? He didn't even like water!

It had been known since grade seven that Ale had a serious aversion to water, for unknown reasons.

With this thought in mind, she stopped. Aversion to water… that was it. A malevolent grin spread up her face, and she started off for class after all.

As she entered the room, Mr. Selim, their history professor, raised an eyebrow at her wearily. "Miss Arlene… would you care to explain to the class why you are late… and soaking wet?"

She merely snorted. "Why was I late, you ask? Well, because I was wet. And why am I wet? I blame the actions of immature nimrods." This said, she was careful to take a seat in the back corner of the class.

Ale turned around in his seat to examine her once more. That grin upon her face could only mean she had something in store… but what, he couldn't imagine. The thought hardly made him nervous—he was cocky in his certainty that no one could possibly pull a prank on him better than even his worst one on another person.

As class persisted, no one seemed to notice the pale blonde who was fiddling with the wires. The wires were there, simply because some student had managed somehow or another to form a gaping hole in the wall. It was rumored that these wires were those of the sprinkler system for the classroom—Arlene planned on finding out.

Selim was continuing on with one of his many lectures, when he stopped. He sniffed the air for a minute, and paled.

Simultaneously, Arlene jumped from her seat and pointed above her seat. "Smoke! Fire!" The dramatic cry was a convincing one—most anyone would assume the wires had just brushed together.

The result was complete chaos. Most of the students leapt from their seats, panicking. Some ran for the door. One actually jumped out the window, despite it being the second story of the school. And then… the sprinklers came on. They drenched anything and everything in their paths, save for Arlene, who was already wet in the first place.

Now it was Ale's turn to pale, and he nearly fell out of his seat as he made an effort to crawl under his desk. Moments later, a smirking face came into view. "Sick and wrong, Arlene. Really, going for your opponent's greatest fear…" He shook his head, trying to restrain his grin.

Arlene shrugged. "Sick and wrong, hmm? I'm afraid I'm not the one named after an alcoholic beverage!" She snickered, wagging a finger in front of his face tauntingly. However, her taunts seemed to make no progress, and she eventually came to a stop. "What? Are you deaf as well as stupid?" she demanded to know.

In a flash, he'd gripped her by her shoulders again, and their lips met. Arlene's eyes widened, and her confidence waned away as she found that she wasn't pushing him away. The kiss was forceful, and lasted a good fifteen seconds though no one noticed because of all the disruption taking place.

As they pulled away, there was silence between them. Arlene cautiously lifted a hand to her mouth, as though attempting to wipe away the kiss.

"Wrong move, huh?"

Arlene gazed at him. His expression was a mixture of smugness and inquiry. "You're… enjoying this, aren't you?" she spat.

"Mm-hmm. But are you?" His turquoise eyes locked with hers. By this time, the hair of his that usually stuck out in every imaginable direction was also nearly plastered to his face because of the water that was still managing to fall on him despite his position under the desk.

She thought about the question for a moment. "…We'll see."

* * *

**A/N:** It's such a boring start... -sigh-. If you couldn't already tell, here's who's whom: 

Ale: Axel  
Arlene: Larxene  
Ienzo: Zexion  
Dulor: Luxord

I got most of these names from another fic. x) Except Ale, which I had fun snorting over during math class a few weeks ago.  
I really hope you enjoyed this start, though I'm sure it's awful. (: I plan on having more Larxel moments in there later though. Along with some humor.  
Oh, and Mrs. Nance? xD That would actually be based on a real teacher: My fat stupid Twinkie of a Language teacher. And Mr. Selim? That's "Miles" backwards. Mr. Miles is my Social Studies teacher. Why did I put his name backwards? Well, I have no clue.

Anyways, I won't update until I get at least five reviews. -snickers- If you don't like me wanting that many, I could always ask for ten... nah. Peh. You all know I'm too much of a pushover to want ten reviews. Enough with my rant. I'll shut up now.

**_Please Read and Review!_**


	2. Difficult Convincing

**A/N:** Oopsie. This took abit longer to update than I planned... But if you read my profile, you'll see that I had to go to Georgia for vacation last Thursday, and I only got in a few hours ago!  
O.O WOW! Thanks to all of you who reviewed and faved this! I got more than DOUBLE the reviews I asked for (:D Not that I'm complaining!)! Without you, I might have quickly lost interest in writing this, but luckily, I haven't.

A couple of you mentioned how you liked Demy, so I gave him a bigger part in this. Whoot. And if you haven't already figured out that that's Demyx, well... O-o I'm afraid you need some sort of mental help...

And I believe Jinx asked about how Ale bathed if he has an aversion to water. Well, that's answered in this as well. x) Gah, wouldn't I just love to see Ale/Axel without his shirt on. -drools-

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts, which is from where these characters eventually developed from. Meaning: I don't own Organization XIII either. And if I don't own that cluster of Nobodies, there's no possibility that I technically own their human selves either. If you think I do, go get yourself checked out by a shrink.

* * *

News of the 'fire' that had occurred in history spread quickly, and although it was found out that there never had been an actual fire—only smoke—students were dismissed from school for the rest of the day. It seemed teachers loathed spending time in there just as much as the students. 

Arlene was packing up her knapsack when she heard someone behind her clear their throat. Looking around, she scowled when she saw it was Demy. His hair was still fashioned in a partial mullet, partial mohawk, giving him the impression of someone who lacked the intelligence to recite their ABCs.

The only bad thing about the current situation was that unfortunately, Demy was smarter than his looks gave him credit for. Sure, he was a clumsy oaf at times, but he could catch on to things quicker than most people assumed he could.

"What do you want Demy?" She spoke slowly, while increasing the pace that she was packing at. She did wonder how his hair was back into his preferred style—how could it not have gotten wet from the sprinklers? Maybe he'd been one of the lucky few who'd exited the classroom the minute the chaos had started and hadn't been trampled.

"Oh, nothing. Just… wanted to comment on how _intently_ you were studying in history today. You and Ale sure were into it, weren't you?"

Arlene froze. It was obvious from the cocky tone of his voice that he'd seen her kissing Ale. No wait! That wasn't right! Ale had kissed her. NOT the other way around. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she replied, careful to keep her voice at a calm level.

Demy only grinned at her unwillingness. "Suuuuuuure you don't." He nodded sarcastically, as though she were some five-year old telling a fairy tale, and he was pretending to go along with it.

Arlene scowled. "Demy, if you're at a loss of things to do, why don't you find a new hairstyle rather than pester me?"

He chose to ignore her question, instead digging into his pockets for something. At last he found what he was searching for—a small white piece of paper. He thrust it at Arlene, who just barely managed to grasp it before it fluttered out of her reach.

"What is it?" She eyed it warily. It wasn't that she didn't trust anything Demy gave her… it was just that she didn't trust anything Demy gave her.

The brunette raised his eyebrows. "You mean to tell me that you haven't heard anything about our school festival that's going on tomorrow night?"

Her electric blue eyes narrowed. She smelled a trap here, and she didn't like it one bit. What the heck did he care if she knew about the festival or not. "I don't do festivals." With that said, she slung her pack over one shoulder and attempted to walk off, praying desperately that Demy wouldn't follow her.

It was as though he lived and breathed to do exactly the opposite of what she asked. He did follow her, and quite obviously so. Rather than become discouraged when she quickened her pace, he instead quickened his as well, so as to keep up.

"You know you want to come—it'll be a lot of fun! And… there'll be quite a few surprises there!" he told her, his face breaking out into a grin. Truth be told, he'd done quite a lot of the planning for the festival himself. But that was only part of the reason he was doing all in his power to get Arlene to come. He had something planned, something that had formulated in that cranium the mullhawk covered. His plan had taken form since the moment he'd seen Ale and Arlene lock lips in the classroom, and he wouldn't stop until he'd had all the amusement he could from that event.

Arlene shook her head, now whirling around to face him. "Listen, I DON'T want to come to whatever stupid festival this dumb-ass school is—"

He cut her off, pretending to sigh indifferently. "Okay then." Pausing, his eyes lit up with delight at her expression to his sudden change of heart. "It's just like I thought though. You're a recluse—afraid of people and wishing to keep your distance from anything actually fun. So much for being fearless and all, when you won't even come to one little festival."

That did it. She clenched both teeth and fists. "Fine! I'll come to the festival, _and_ I'll be ready for anything you're planning! Don't think I don't suspect something; I can tell when you're planning things."

Demy didn't respond, but only flicked one of the antennae-like strands of hair that was finally beginning to dry off and take form again.

Fuming, Arlene slapped his hand away roughly and stormed off towards home.

He rubbed his hand, yelping for a minute, before grinning happily and letting out a triumphant laugh. He then fingered a second ticket, identical to the one he'd given the blue-eyed blonde.

"One down, one to go."

---

Peace and quiet. Finally. Ale was home and away from all the disruption that had taken place at school. He was alone in the house—not surprising really; it had been this way since grade school—and getting in his bathing. And since there was no one around, he felt it wouldn't hurt to leave the bathroom door open. It wasn't like anyone was coming over.

Yes, it was true he had an aversion to water. But he wasn't about to let himself collect dust and grime. No, he had to clean himself somehow or another. This was why he chose the sponge method, in the privacy of his own lavatory.

He had just wetted the sponge cautiously and was about to start bathing, when a sudden knock at the door startled him. He jumped a little, tripping and falling to the floor, head banging against a corner of the sink on the way down.

He leapt back to his feet, hurriedly wrapped a towel around his lower portions, and ran to the door, practically flinging it open.

"Well, just who are you so eager to see? Unless you knew I was coming, it couldn't have been me."

Ale groaned. It was Demy. "What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded irritably.

Demy shrugged. "Well I don't know, I just figured that after what you and Arlene did today in history it just probably wasn't me you were hoping to see at the door." He smirked at Ale's look of recognition. "So I was right!" He let out a giddy cackle of triumph.

Ale decided to go for a subject change. "Damn it Demy, look what you made me do to my head!" He tenderly pressed against the side of his head that had come in contact with the sink and pulled his fingers away to reveal a thick red liquid dripping from them.

Demy rubbed the back of his head, and though he said nothing, his expression was apologetic. "Wait… why are you in a towel?" he inquired confusedly.

"I was stripping for a bird outside my window," Ale snapped. "I was bathing when you knocked on the door and scared the crap out of me. Idiot." He shook his head in frustration. "Look, what the heck do you want?"

Demy smirked. He flittered something in Ale's face tauntingly, until the red head instinctively shot out his hand to grab it. "It's for the school festival tomorrow. Hold on to it—it'll come in handy later on in the festival," he explained.

"Come in handy for what?" The bluish-green eyes of the red head were narrowed in suspicion.

"Oh, just something."

"Not interested."

Ale was about to close the door to prevent further embarrassment—and pain—but Demy shot out a hand urgently. "Look, it'll be great there! We'll have food!"

"That's what I have a fridge for," Ale retorted.

Demy searched his brain for something else to convince Ale. "Music?"

The red head wasn't moved. "I've got a stereo too. I'm not a peasant."

"Well… there'll be a lot of games and… competitions and stuff!" The brunette clasped one hand to his head in an effort to think up anything else that might convince the boy in front of him to come to the festival so that he could carry out his plan.

"I've got plenty of entertainment here." Ale didn't bother to respond to the 'competitions' suggestions. Had he not had just that tiny little ounce of modesty to cover up his cockiness, he would've replied something along the lines of: Why compete at things when I already know I'm the best?

"Er… uh… girls! Tons of girls will be there!" Demy was running out of ideas. If that didn't convince Ale, he had no idea what would.

But luckily for the brunette, Ale's eyes fairly lit up. "Hmm…" Ale was struggling to keep further signs of interest from showing. The last thing he wanted to do was please Demy. But… girls were always an interesting subject.

While the towel-wearing boy considered, Demy was growing bored of waiting for an answer. He absentmindedly started humming the Jeopardy theme song while drumming his fingers on the wall.

"Stop humming that stupid song and I'll come!" Ale barked in frustration.

"Huh?" Demy's head shot up. "Really? Okay then! Nice talking to you—though you might wanna actually come to the door in some clothes next time!" Before the crimson-haired boy could reach out and strangle him, Demy fled while fairly doubled over in laughter.

"DANG IT, I DIDN'T FREAKING HAVE TIME!" With that, he slammed the door shut and laid the piece of paper by his knapsack.

As he re-entered the bathroom, he was careful to shut the bathroom door so as to make himself deaf to anyone else who knocked on the door.

* * *

**A/N:** OH NOEZ, WHATEVER COULD DEMY WEMY BE PLANNING? xD Next chapter is the festival, if you haven't already guessed.  
Yeah, sorry this chapter is kinda short... I was planning on adding the festival to it, but then realized I could get more chapters into this, and thus keep this entire story going longer if I make the festival the next chapter. I really don't know how long I'll keep this going--I guess until I run out of ideas.  
And of course Ale likes Arlene. It's just... -.-; He's a teenage boy. A cocky, arrogant one at that. So THAT'S why he's got an interest in girls. xD He could have any pick of girls that he wanted. Tee hee. 

Oh, and I realize this chapter didn't have any of the other Organization XIII members, besides Larxene, Axel, and Demyx. Don't worry. The rest shall all appear in good time. Muaha.

By the way... Cerulean Crystal asked to know the name of the Manga book I got my slight plot from. Well, it's called Ultra Cute and it's written by Nami Akimoto. If any of you like a good manga story, I'd recommend it--x) It's funny.

Since you waited longer than planned for an update, I'll only ask for three reviews this time, before I update again! I hope you all enjoy it so far!

**_Please read and review!_**


	3. Festival Time

**A/N:** Ugh. Once again, I feel sluggish in updating. But part of that wasn't my fault. -glares at this site's staff- For some reason, it wouldn't let me load anything into my Documents here for awhile.

But I'm back now--like it or not!

I didn't go as much in-depth with the festival as I had planned, but at least this chapter is longer than my other two. Heh... I get sidetracked easily, you know. :3

Anyways, I really hope all of you are enjoying this. I'm still getting a few ideas from the manga Ultra Cute. Like the whole "Project Destiny" thing which you'll have to read to find out about.

xD Demy was put into this again. He's such a luffable idiot, so I enjoy having him in here now.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything truly Kingdom Hearts related. Nor do I own any part of Ultra Cute--the manga which inspired me since it has a pairing in it so like Larxene and Axel.

* * *

Seventh period. Last period of the day. Just five more minutes left and it would be time to go. But Arlene wasn't sure she could make it, all the same. 

It was art class. She _hated_ art. Or rather, she didn't hate it… but hated the fact that it was her only other class with Ale, aside from history. So determined was she to keep her distance from him, that she'd been inching her chair in the opposite direction from him ever since class had started.

Finally, someone noticed her chair-scooting antics. "Uh… Arlene? You're about five tables over from where you should be."

Arlene glanced up, scowling. Ramiual—he got on her last nerves. Almost more so than Demy. His clothing usually consisted of blues and greens, but for some reason, she could always picture pink being his color, though he never wore it. That was one reason she disliked him—she HATED pink.

"Whatever," she snapped back. "I'm staying here." Her decision was apparent, and Ramiual knew better than to pester her about it again. Everyone knew it wasn't wise to get Arlene mad.

The boy next to him didn't follow Ramiual's caution. "As if." Braig crossed his arms gazing at Arlene. "Just why do you want to stay over here anyways?"

Arlene said nothing, but instead went back to scribbling on her drawing for class. Not that she really enjoyed drawing; she just wanted to pass.

"Afraid you'll get another water balloon dropped on you if you sit too near?"

Crap. She knew that voice._ Don't look at him, don't look at him, don't look at him._ She repeated the thought to herself over and over again.

Ale leaned over her shoulder. The smirk he bore on his face was quickly becoming his trademark. "I wouldn't have too much worry of that happening again," he told her. He leaned in to talk with her some more, knowing quite well that he was annoying her, but the bell rang.

Arlene gratefully sprang up from her chair. This time, she packed her rucksack much more rapidly than she had the previous day. No Demy, no Ale, no ANYONE was going to have a chance to intercept her before she got home.

She was just about to round the corner when—WHAM! She ran straight into Braig, nearly falling backwards with the force. "Ugh… Braig, do you stuff your shirt with bricks or something?" She was annoyed by now. Turning backwards, she paled as she saw Demy approaching her. She was not going to let him pester her about that dumb festival again.

Braig was laughing by this time. 'Course, if Demy had been wanting to pester him about something, well… he knew he'd probably be in just as much of a hurry as Arlene to get out of there.

"Move, Braig!" It wasn't a question. It was a do-it-now-or-I'll-murder-you kind of command. Without even waiting for the "As if" comment that she knew was coming, she shoved him aside and went downstairs.

One way or another, she finally managed to reach home without any more interruptions. The minutes ticked by slowly. There was no way that she could possibly go to the festival. To heck with the fact she'd told Demy she would. What did Demy matter anyways?

The only thing that bothered her was the slip of paper he'd handed her. All it had printed on it was a simple number. Or really a Roman numeral. Either way, what was so important about it?

"…" Fine. She'd go to that dumb festival. Had to be better than sitting around and telling herself how she would _not_ be going.

---

Ale was alone in the house. Again. He almost always was—not like he cared. And just to be careful, he'd bathed the minute he'd gotten home. He'd done so rather quickly. There was no way he was going to crack his head open again and be caught in the doorway with nothing more than a towel.

He fingered the slip of paper again and again. Demy had said he'd need it later in the festival, hadn't he?

Ale looked out the window, surprised to see the sun lowering in the sky a bit. It was about time for him to get going then. He slipped the paper into his pocket and headed out through the front door.

When he finally reached the school, he raised his eyebrows. There, not too far away from him, was Arlene. He couldn't help but snort when he realized she was… chasing Demy. He managed to catch a few words of what she was saying.

"DEMY, YOU WORTHLESS IDIOT! YOU INVITED ME BECAUSE YOU WANTED ME TO COME TO A STUPID CONCERT OF YOURS!"

Ale crossed his arms, walking up to the two. Arlene narrowed her eyes upon seeing him and she shot a glare back at Demy. "Oh, you are beyond dead now. You're telling me you invited _him_?" In that instant, the red-head was reminded of a vicious dog. Arlene sure seemed ready enough to start jumping down Demy's throat.

Ale didn't look too worried about Arlene's complete lack of enthusiasm to see him. Instead, he ruffled a hand through his crimson hair. "Demy, who on Earth would actually stop to hear you perform at a festival?"

Demy let out a whine. "Lots of people!" he pouted. It was a fact that he got indignant when people criticized his music. "See? Look over there!" The brunette pointed a finger to a small crowd of people waiting around a stage. They didn't look particularly excited, but they didn't seem to hate the idea of the concert either.

Ale smirked. Okay, so Demy was a good musician. Annoying as heck, but a good musician nonetheless.

During Ale and Demy's conversation, Arlene had tried to slip away unnoticed, but Ale grabbed her by the wrist. A smile slowly made its way up his flawless face. "You and I are both here… why not stick around long enough to have a good time?" The question was phrased in a near-whisper as he pulled her in closer.

She struggled to escape from his grip, but her efforts remained fruitless. She turned to face him, staring at him. Electric blue locked with bright turquoise as they stood there for a moment in silence.

"Because I could _never_ have a good time with you." She spat her answer at him as though he were some disgusting kind of _thing_.

To her disappointment, her comment did not wipe the infuriating smirk off his face. In fact, the smirk clung to his face even tighter. It clung just like a bug sticks to the windshield after going _SPLAT!_ "Really? Then why don't you just stay for the festival… with me. And if you don't have a good time, I won't bug you. Ever again."

Arlene's eyes practically lit up with the proposition. What could one night hurt if in exchange she was going to get a lifetime free from her biggest pain in the butt? "You've got yourself a deal," she told him, her glowering expression replaced by a sneer of confidence.

Ale snickered before turning back to Demy. "For this festival supposedly being so fun, I don't really see much else besides your concert here," he remarked.

The brunette shrugged. "That's because this isn't the full festival. You'll need to keep walking a little more to get where the other stuff is." He gave the two an ecstatic look of triumph before walking off to the stage. The only thing that interested Demy more than humorous situations was his music.

Ale and Arlene did keep walking, neither one striking up much conversation to the other. When they reached the rest of the festival, both of them stopped dead in their tracks. There were all sorts of rides and, as Demy had promised, foods. Events were going on everywhere; it seemed as though the fair had come to town again.

"So this is where the money for school fieldtrips really goes…" The red-head shook his head slightly, before dragging the scowling blonde beside him onwards.

---

Arlene was grinning. The grin was true—it was of the ear-to-ear sort. She was completely and utterly overjoyed.

Why the dramatic change in behavior? Because the festival was drawing to an end and all she would have to do was look at Ale and tell him that she'd had a horrible time. And then he'd never pester her again.

A little nagging voice in her head spoke up, much to her displeasure. _Did you really have such an awful time?_ it questioned. The voice had reason to question so. They'd gone on nearly every ride thatwas availableand Ale had bought her dinner there—he'd even shown his miraculous precision at the bottle toss game and won her a stuffed plushie of a Pikachu. Though when he'd said the Pikachu resembled her, she'd thrown it onto the ground, stomped on it multiple times, and kicked it to who knows where.

If she'd done all this with someone else—even Demy—she'd have had to admit that it had been a pretty good night. But her stubbornness came through. _Yes. Of course it was an appalling time,_ she snapped back at the voice.

Finally, most everyone else was starting to leave. She and Ale walked to the borderline of where the stands stopped. The turquoise-eyed boy turned to face her. "Well?" No elaborate questioning, no probing for the answer he wanted. Just a simple 'yes' or 'no' kind of question. That surprised Arlene.

"No," she told him, her eyebrows arched in positive delight.

Ale simply shrugged. "Okay. You win."

That surprised Arlene even more. Why in the world had he tried his hardest to wear on her nerves if he didn't seem too upset now that he'd lost the privilege to do so?

"… Bye," she told him simply, trying her best to keep her snarl plastered on her face.

Both of them turned in opposite directions and began to walk away from the festival. She was still furiously going over his reactions, trying to find any sense in them whatsoever. He was making it seem as though she had proposed the idea and that he'd been hoping all along that she wouldn't have a good time.

But if that was the case, why had he tried so hard to make her happy anyways?

Arlene was still in deep thought when a voice coming from speakers placed throughout the festival interrupted her.

"Hey all you folks out there! Don't think that the festival's over just yet, because there's one more event we have planned for you!" The voice paused for effect before being certain that they'd gotten most people's attention. "It's called 'Project Destiny'! Most of you should have received a slip of paper with a Roman numeral on it. Well, just look for a sign with the numeral identical to yours. Someone else should have a slip of paper matching to yours. If they show up, they might just be your soul mate—but only destiny will decide if they show up or not!" With that the announcement was promptly over, leaving people toclaw and scrambleto find their matching numeral.

Arlene had a sinking feeling. So that was why Demy had given her the slip of paper. Suddenly, her face grew hot. If that little twerp had kept the other piece of paper for himself—GAH! She promptly began searching for a sign that matched her slip of paper, eager to hit Demy upside the head so hard, he was knocked to Timbuktu.

Much to her surprise, he wasn't at the spot where her sign was set up, which happened to be a small grove of trees off to the side from where the brunette's concert was set up. She crossed her arms, starting to grow a bit chilly as she waited for him to show up so she could blow up at him.

"Number XIII?"

Her head whipped around to where she'd heard the voice. She knew that voice… "Yes," she responded finally.

The familiar red-haired boy with the eyes resembling turquoise orbs stepped out from the shadows of some of the other trees. "Well, what do you know?" he mused.

The blonde simply stared at him, unsure of whether to growl for him to get lost or just remain silent until he simply went away.

"Nice to meet you… soul mate." Without warning, he took a step closer to her—and suddenly they were embracing again, much as they had during history.

And once again, the cynical, sarcastic girl found that she couldn't bring herself to pull away.

Suddenly, it seemed Demy had decided to put on an encore performance for that particular moment. Not a big surprise that the little twerp had been spying on them, having been aware of Project Destiny the entire time.The music was perfectly audible to the two of them.

"_This is easy as lovers go, so don't complicate it by hesitating..."_

The kiss lasted even longer than their first one. When he finally pulled his lips away from hers, she stared up at him with a look of complete disbelief. Though Arlene was willing herself with all her might to loathe him for daring to do such a thing, she was finding that it was increasingly difficult to do so.

Ale looked her right in the eye, the corners of his mouth twitching until he was smiling again. "How about now?"

Arlene looked away from him. Instead she looked at the ground, knowing she was the one who had lost instead. The festival hadn't actually been over back when she'd given her answer—this was technically the end of it.

She could always say 'No' again. His offer was still the same.

But just as the blonde had been unable to pull away from his kiss, she couldn't bring her lips to form the word.

"…Yes." That was her answer. The moment the word had left her lips, she knew that he'd be pestering her even more so now, rather than leave her alone for all eternity.

But that little nagging voice in the back of her head was convinced that that wasn't such a bad thing.

* * *

**A/N:** Eh. Got bored, so I decided to put in a little line from the chorus of "As Lovers Go". x3 Fit well enough though. 

Heh heh. More Larxel moments. -looks proud-

:D About that Pikachu plushie... well, you've gotta admit it looks like her. Ahahaha. Pika Lar Lar... -snorts- So priceless.

Hopefully you'll notice that I added two more Organization members in for a little bit. Braig was Xigbar. Yes I do know how old Xigbar is in Kingdom Hearts II, but shush--I can pretend he got held back quite a few years, so is in the same classes that the rest of them are. Ramiual was Marluxia. xD Wasn't that hard to guess that when you read about the pink though, I'm sure.

But don't make fun of Marluxia too much. Just because it's hard to tell if he's a boy or a girl doesn't mean he's gay. Peh. I really can't picture him paired with anyone, be it girl or guy. So he's pretty much all alone. O-o Unless he secretly molests his flowers. Bleh. I have no idea how that would be possible, but oh well.

Anyways, enough with my sick talk. xD Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I've got a few more ideas planned for upcoming chapters, but if you have any ideas of your own, just put it in your review!

Speaking of reviews, I'd like five again this time. :3 This method seems to be working well--once again, I got nearly double the amount of reviews I asked for. So work with me here.Yeah... spare thirty seconds of your time for the little white box that's so easy to click.

**_Read, review, be happy--it just might shut me up._**


	4. Movie Dilemma: Part One

**A/N:** Well, I ran into some major writer's block. I often do, these days. But finally I decided that it was a perfect time to add in some pointless little humorous chapters. Last one was a bit fluffy.

Let's get a few things settled, shall we?

Yes, I DID bring Roxas into this fic. I figured, heck, he didn't know he was a Nobody for some time until Xemnas managed to get a hold of him and bring him into Organization XIII. Since he was born differently from other Nobodies, he didn't have any memory of being Sora and everything.

No, this is NOT going to evolve into an AkuRoku fic. For those of you who support that pairing, read the summary again. This is LarxeneAxel. Larxel. I'm just not a yaoi person. I don't write it. _And_ I'm entitled to my opinion. Remember that before you try and blow up at me. I don't see why two guys can't be mentioned in a fanfic without it turning all slashy. They're just best friends, for God's sake.

Don'cha just love a good rant? Anyways, here's your chapter.

**Disclaimer:** If you STILL think I own any of the stuff in this besides my own sick and twisted sense of humor... check out the past three chapters, genius.

* * *

"Who is he?" 

"Have you ever seen him before?"

"I don't think so…"

"He's not from around here, is he?"

"Hard to say. He might be. But _look_ at that _hair_!"

"It looks like fish scales, from the back!"

These were the comments that the blue-eyed boy had had to put up with for the better part of the day. He sighed, putting one elbow on the desk as he ruffled his other hand through his blond hair, shooting an unfeeling stare at the two teens to the side of him who were the culprits of the whispers in this instance.

Just because he was the new kid, constant jeers, jokes, whispers, and snickers had been thrown in his direction all freaking morning. He was growing a bit tired of it, truth be told.

Oi. Another lecture. It was only his first day, and it seemed like he'd been hearing plenty of these. Not that he'd paid attention long enough to find out if it was a serious lecture or not. It was sixth period, and he was already counting down the minutes.

His eyes began to droop. Perhaps he could get a quick nap in. Their science teacher certainly wouldn't notice—she was so caught up in lecturing.

He was just about to drift off to sleep, when something hit his head with a _thoink_ sound. He looked up in surprise to see a crumpled ball of paper right in front of him. The boy looked questioningly to the row beside him, at a boy with dirty blond hair who was staring at the teacher, unmoving.

The sandy-haired boy gave an inquisitive "Uh…" and was startled as the other boy gave him a sharp look, pointing a long, tapered finger in the direction of a turquoise-eyed red-head behind him and returning his attention immediately to the current lesson.

The red-head glanced momentarily in his direction, giving a slight grin and pointing to the crumpled paper.

He sighed, opening it quietly. It read:

_Hey. You're the new kid here, right? What's your name?_

The boy grinned, taking out his pencil and scribbling out a hurried response.

_Roxas. Yeah, I'm new… what's yours?_

Roxas chucked the paper wad in the red-head's direction. He let out a laugh as it hit the turquoise-eyed boy in the head, though caught himself in the midst of it and tried to turn it into a cough. So it really came out more like half of each.

A minute later, the paper came sailing back in his direction, right over the head of the boy with dirty blond hair. By this point, said boy was not in a very happy mood, being disrupted every five minutes by a crumpled ball of paper.

The rest of the note went on something like this:

_A: Ale._

_R: Huh? Ale as in… another name for beer?_

_A: Aw, shut up, Rocks-as!_

_R: Whatever you say, Beer._

_A: Yeah, yeah. Listen, before I fall asleep here… wanna go to the movies later?_

_R: Uh… I guess… what's playing?_

_A: Dance Revolution of Godzilla._

_R: Wow. Sounds so scary. What's next? Karaoke Night of the Fuzzy Bunnies?_

_A: Ahahaha, you're **so** funny. Well… maybe. Anyways, do you want to go or not?_

Roxas paused in the middle of writing his response. He briefly wondered why Ale seemed so… friendly, as opposed to everyone else. He'd always been pretty quiet—never the talkative type. As a result, he didn't tend to make too many friends. Somehow or other… he'd managed to find this one.

_R: I'll go. But I swear—If Godzilla tries any break-dancing, I'm out of there._

He tossed the note back over to Ale, who was just about to catch it—but the note was intercepted by the science-obsessed boy.

Roxas smirked as he heard Ale hiss "Give it back, Even!" and proceeded to watch the red-head fling pencils in Even's direction.

After the bell rang, Roxas was gathering his stuff to leave. Even still looked ticked, and had sharpened his own pencil to such a point that the blue-eyed boy was eager to get out of the room before there was a homicide.

However, Ale managed to catch him in the doorway. "I'll meet you at six. I've already invited a few others to come. Surely you'll find where the movie theater is?"

Roxas blinked. "Er… yeah, sure."

Ale smirked. "Good… now there's just one other person I need to ask…"

---

Arlene sighed as she saw him approaching. Dang it. Dang it, dang it, dang it! Still… she was through with attempting to run away from him. It just didn't do any good these days. So she waited impatiently, blowing at one of the antennae-strands of her hair that had somehow become a bit lower than the other one, and was constantly drooping near her face.

Finally, Ale reached her. "Hiya, stranger." And dang it again—that maddening smirk was still plastered on his face.

"Hiya back," she replied stiffly. So she'd kissed him—twice. So what?

The red-head's grin widened, and he slipped one arm on top of her shoulder. "How about you go to the movies with me later tonight?" She scowled. Thanks to his conversation with her, the goosebumps that were, by now, all too familiar, were starting to make their way up and down her arms.

"Is this some sorry attempt to drag me along for a date?"

Ale brushed the words away, undisturbed. "Nah—it's not a date. I've invited a few others to come along too."

"Such as?" she half-snapped, attempting to worm her way out from his grip on her shoulder.

"The new kid, for one. His name's Roxas."

This made Arlene pause. She had a known habit of getting to know little tidbits of information about everything and one. It made it so much easier to bring them down, should they ever give her a hard time. The strategy worked on every single living, breathing being. Well… everyone except Ale.

Ale waited for her reply, his fingers tracing their way up the nearly-fallen strand of her hair. "What's this? Our little bug is losing one of her feelers?"

Arlene scowled at this. "Don't touch my hair. You have no right to be talking, you wanna-be-hedgehog."

The red-head only continued to grin, looking quite proud of his rebellious hair.

"Fine then. I'll come along. But if no one else is there…" The blonde sent him a sneer that quite plainly said she'd kill him then and there.

"I wouldn't have it any other way!"

With that, the two of them went their separate ways.

---

Six o'clock arrived sooner than expected. Soon, a small group was crowded inside the theater, tickets clutched in their hands. It would've been a bit more cheerful an atmosphere… but Arlene was ticked off. Again. And this time, most of them quite frankly agreed she had reason to be.

"You invited _Demy_?" She didn't bother to lower her voice to a whisper, or even a mere hiss as she snapped at Ale, despite the fact that the brunette almost-blondish musician was right in front of her.

The turquoise-eyed boy had his arms crossed, looking a bit impatient. "I sure didn't!" He shot a suspicious look to Braig, who was also in the group.

"As if."

The gazes drifted to Roxas, who looked a bit startled. "… which one's Demy again?" Okay… so it obviously wasn't him.

The accusations finally went to the only remaining member of the small group, who'd remained silent most of the time. Elaeus. The bulky teen sighed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Well… he overheard me asking Braig and kept pestering me about it…" With that, he shrugged. Elaeus wasn't too fond of talking, most times.

Demy cleared his throat indignantly. "Hello? I'm right here! I can here you all, y'know!"

Most of the group went on to ignore Demy, going on to take their seats inside the section their tickets pointed out.

The only remaining ones were Braig, Demy, and poor Elaeus. They'd all decided to stay and get a few snacks first. There was a problem though—they only had enough munny between them to get one major snack.

"I say we get nachos, squirt!"

"But I want popcorn!" Demy snapped back, fuming at being called a 'squirt'.

"As. If."

"But—"

Braig snorted. "We're getting nachos, and that's final!"

"Now that's just plain_ rude_!" the musician whined.

Elaeus sighed again, wondering how he always got caught up in these messes.

Just as the three of them finally got to the counter, the employee working there walked away, having been called to clean up some little child's barf in the men's room.

But the argument continued all the while.

"Popcorn!"

"Nachos."

Tired of arguing by this point, Braig slammed the munny down on the counter, fully prepared to get his own nachos if that was what it took to make Demy shut up.

But Demy was quicker. He hurriedly hopped up and over the counter, rushing to the popcorn machine.

And Elaeus slapped his forehead, allowing his hand to slide down his face.

Braig was letting out a stream of curses, swiping at Demy who was somehow managing to duck, work the popcorn machine, and laugh simultaneously.

"Demy…" Braig shouted after a moment of almost-silence. It couldn't be called complete silence due to the furious line of people backed up behind them. We'll just go on and say that there weren't many workers that night, and so that's why no one had yet come to check on the disruption.

The brunette merely laughed, continuing to hold down the button that released butter onto his popcorn.

Braig cursed—again. And slammed his fist on the counter—again. "Demy!" He frantically tried once more to get the boy's attention.

Demy merely waved away his yells as his finger remained planted firmly on the button for butter.

"DE-MY!" Braig finally roared, putting emphasis on the two syllables of the teen's name. "That butter is about to freaking overflow!" he growled.

The musician looked confused. He hadn't been paying attention to how much butter he was really putting onto the popcorn… he'd been a bit too busy trying to avoid the swings and punches coming from Braig.

Hurriedly, he lifted his finger from the button—and to his dismay, found that he'd pushed it hard enough to make it jam. The butter did overflow, as Braig had predicted, and began to fall in a small stream onto the floor.

"Oh… fuck."

Braig scowled, finally able to make his way behind the counter. "Find a way to make it stop… and quit cussing. You're not good at it!"

Thus another argument was started up as the butter began to flow more and more steadily onto the floor, soon making a river behind the counter.

It really looked more like a dance as the two of them tried to grab things to hold onto while they made fruitless attempts to mop up the stream of butter up. Soon, the angry line of people became a bit more cheerful as they watched the two boys be immersed in pain from constant slipping and sliding.

Poor, poor, poor Elaeus. He shook his head and stalked off towards the movie theater, deciding he didn't need a share of the snack if it meant so much to the two of them. Taking his seat in the welcomed darkness of the theater section, he hunched down in his seat, desperately hoping that those two didn't end up blowing the whole theater up before Godzilla even got to his ballet act.

* * *

**A/N:** Oh goody. I managed to bring in Vexen and Lexaeus. 

Aheh... don't ask about the title of the movie. For some reason, I had the video game, Dance, Dance Revolution on the brain. Also, I asked my friends for ideas on a title. Oh boy. You should know that when I ask meh buds for help, the result is _always_ going to be interesting. That title was actually one of the more normal ones we thought up, believe it or not.

Wow. It was fun making Braig/Xigbar and Demy/Demyx do that. Makes me wonder what other horrific and stupid things I'll end up making them do in the future.

Yeah, I'll be continuing this chapter in my next chapter.

But I won't update until I get another five reviews. Seems to be working thus far, so I'll keep on asking.

xD Thanks to all of you out there who keep giving me inspiration to write more on this.

**_Please read and review!_**


	5. Movie Dilemma: Part Two

**A/N:** Well, if you checked my profile page, you'd have seen that I was in Disney World with a friend until a few days ago. I only just now got around to updating, because my computer was having mental issues a few days ago. Seems our virus protection had expired.

Anyways, I didn't add any new Organization members into this chapter--I was too lazy to. But I did have fun writing it.

Braig and Demy get what they deserve. Ale does too, for what he does in this chapter. Wewt.

Oops... forgot to add Roxas in here as well... at least until the end. Eh--at least I didn't forget him completely.

Now read. Or... do whatever it is you do after clicking this link. I assume most people actually read the fic, but for all I know, you could just sit there, pick your nose, or practice on your bird calling.

**Disclaimer:** Oh _yeah_, you caught me in the act. Yup. I DO own Kingdom Hearts and such. -snort- Yeah, riiiiight. You should get the point by now.

* * *

It was at _least_ twenty minutes later. Most likely thirty. And the butter was still coming. There was hardly an upright person in the lobby—most of them were slipping and sliding all over the place, and every person present had fallen down at least once. 

Demy and Braig were setting the record for falling down about thirty-seven times each, seeing as they were nearest to the source of all the havoc.

"DO SOMETHING!" Braig demanded, clinging desperately to the counter as he attempted to stay standing.

Demy looked frantic. "Uh… er… eh…" He glanced back at the buttons on the popcorn machine, hurriedly pressing the jammed button for the butter again and again, as though hoping it would cause it to pop back out and un-jam itself.

Instead, the result was rather the opposite.

His finger slipped after trying to press the button again for the ninth time, instead smashing into the button that started making the popcorn, well… pop. And that button was smashed so hard that it, too, became jammed.

And so, the popcorn began to pop. Before anyone knew what was happening, it too was suddenly coming over the edge. Braig stopped scrambling to keep himself up, as the crunchy popcorn was at least easier for his shoes to grip. Demy, however, was holding his nose.

"Eeeewww… it's burnt."

Indeed it was. The popcorn machine was pumping out so many things that it was overheating itself. So the popcorn was starting to burn. And that nasty smell was wafting out throughout the entire lobby, causing the rest of the still-sliding people to pinch their noses as well.

Braig shot the musician a glare. "Demy… you're a freaking idiot," he grumbled, grabbing a handful of popcorn and chucking it at the boy's head.

Demy grinned sheepishly and returned his attention to the popcorn machine. He began probing his brain for some sort of solution on how to make the flow of butter and popcorn cease.

Blinking, he did the first thing that came to mind—grabbed a box of candy from behind the counter. Dumping out all the chocolatey goodness inside, he shoved it underneath the nozzle from which the butter was flowing.

He grinned triumphantly at Braig, who merely returned the gesture by scowling and pointing back to the box.

"… Awwww, man!" Demy whined. The butter had already filled up the box and was continuing on its path downward to the floor. Why the hell was it so hard to get a freaking thing of popcorn?

---

Arlene was grinning wickedly. Oh, she wasn't doing anything too terrible—just paying Ale back for his pestering her on a daily basis.

So far, she'd been making about three annoying comments per minute.

And boy, was a certain red-head getting annoyed.

"Make it stoooooop!" Arlene begged, half-way standing up in her seat to turn and settle back down, so as to be facing Ale—and annoy the crap out of whomever was sitting behind them.

The turquoise-eyed boy slumped down in his seat. "No."

Arlene sighed. "But this is boring… not to mention completely psychotic. Who directed this movie anyways? Someone with mental problems?" she asked noisily.

Ale shot her a glare. He could suspect she was doing this on purpose. Oh, he'd get her back for it, he was certain of that much. He forced a grin on his face. "Sssssh! Others are trying to watch the movie!"

The people behind them could be heard muttering their agreement.

Arlene only grinned even more. "Since when have you ever given a care about the welfare of others?" She shifted in her seat once again, letting her feet rest on the chair in front of her. Hey, it was killing two birds with one stone! Annoying the crap out of the people behind _and_ in front of them!

Ale thought for a minute. She wanted him to be annoyed with her right now… so he'd do the opposite. "Hmm… you're right. I don't care." He too leaned back in his seat, letting his shoes dangle right under the nose of whatever poor victim was sitting in front of them.

The person, who we shall randomly call Fred, turned around in his seat, looking positively fed up. "Do you _mind_? We are TRYING to watch the movie here!"

"Well I'm not in your path of vision."

"You're distracting me!"

"How so?"

"YOUR FEET ARE UNDER MY FREAKING NOSE!"

Ale grinned. "Aw, that's not distracting. THIS is distracting."

He leaned over to Arlene, who was grumbling at the fact that now he was the one enjoying tormenting people, and she was being left out. Without saying a word, he snatched the Ziploc bag sticking out of her carrying bag—she refused to call it a purse—that was full of potato chips. Yeah, she was one of those smart people who brought their own snacks, rather than be charged so much for something you'd eat during the previews and first thirty minutes of the movie anyways.

Face now lit up with glee, he opened the Ziploc bag up, and promptly dropped its contents right on top of Fred. Removing his feet from the back of the chair, he slumped down in his seat once more—this time from trying to stifle his laughter.

The blonde next to him looked thoroughly annoyed. "You're. Buying. Me. Another. Snack." The words came out practically like a growl.

"Or you'll do what?" He put his hands behind his head cockily.

A moment later, a loud "OW!" was heard. Apparently, a certain girl with anger issues had just elbowed a certain red-head in the ribs… hard. More people were heard hissing for them to shut up.

Ale put his hands up as a sign of defeat. "Okay, okay, I'll get your stupid snack!" he whispered. He then stood up and rushed out of the theater, muttering to himself as Arlene put her feet back on the edge of the chair in front of her, a smirk on her face.

---

The lobby scene hit Ale like a flyswatter on steroids. He was unsure whether to sigh or burst out laughing when he saw Braig and Demy half-way buried in a constantly growing pile of popcorn that was slowly making its way from behind the counter.

Where were the movie theater employees during all of this? Eh. Playing poker in the Employee Lounge, most likely.

Ale walked up to the two of them, looking smug. "Just what in the world did you do?" He was still struggling to keep his laughter back.

Demy wormed his way out of the popcorn pile, rubbing his head embarrassedly. "Braig and I couldn't agree on what we wanted to get as a snack…"

The other boy snorted. "This wouldn't have happened if we'd gotten my nachos," he muttered.

The musician rolled his eyes. He sent a glare at Braig, crossing his arms indignantly. "Yeah, then everyone would be covered in cheese instead! Whoop-de-freaking-do!" Demy retorted. "If he hadn't _wanted_ the nachos in the first place, I wouldn't have accidentally… gotten the button jammed. So this shit isn't all my fault!"

"Hmm…" Ale mumbled aloud, seemingly thinking the issue over. He then turned to Demy. "You know… you're really not good at cussing."

The blondish-brownish-haired boy's eye twitched.

A snort came from Braig. "Told you so."

Ale snickered for a moment, before turning to the source of all the chaos. "So… you're saying the button's jammed?" he asked, carefully making his way over to the popcorn machine.

"Er… button_s_. You know… plural… more than one…" Demy admitted. "But… yeah. We tried everything to get it to stop and—" He was cut off right in the middle of his sentence.

Ale had just smacked the machine so hard, that it fizzled for a minute before the butter stopped flowing, and the popcorn stopped… popping. He wrinkled his nose, thus ruining his triumphant look of victory. "No more burnt popcorn smell," he confirmed.

Braig and Demy were both left speechless. Why hadn't they thought of that?

Suddenly, Joe, the manager, walked onto the scene. And Joe was a biiiig man.

The two other boys exchanged glances as Ale cursed at his misfortune to have had to come to the lobby at the worst possible time. Oh yeah… _that_ was why.

Joe hardly seemed phased by the scene. "I'm assuming you have the munny to pay for the damages?" He cracked his knuckles once or twice for effect.

All three of them faltered. "Er…" Somehow, none of them thought that their snack munny was going to pay this off.

---

Arlene roared with laughter. "Let me get this straight… those two flooded the lobby with popcorn and butter…" she started, unable to hold back a snigger. "And then… you hit it so hard, you knocked it out of order?"

Just going back over the events had the girl back into another fit of uncontrollable giggles.

Ale tried his best to stay calm. She was enjoying this way too much, in his opinion. "Will you help us clean up or not?" he asked, clutching a mop in one hand, and a bucket of water in the other hand. The bucket with water was held out away from him a little further than necessary.

The blonde considered for a moment, cocking her head to one side. "…You get my snack?"

"Heh… nope," he replied hesitantly.

"Then I'm out of here!" Arlene remarked cheerfully, striding out of the movie theater without a second glance.

Ale's eyes widened. "But… but… we need more help to clean all of this up!" He dropped to his knees then and there, eyeing a nearby wall and pondering if he should bang his head on it. After all… it was a loooooooong night ahead of them.

His eyes brightened as Roxas walked up. "Roxas, buddy!" He stood back up, brushing himself off. "You're going to help out, aren't 'cha?"

Roxas took one look at the pile of popcorn and grinned. "You know... I really should be getting around to doing that math homework... you know, it's a new school and all that I'm at, and this math class they put me in... I just didn't understand at all."

Ale paused. "You were put into a class lower than the one you were in at your old school, because we didn't offer a class at your level!" he shouted, after a minute.

The blond simply flashed another grin and rushed out of the theater. Ale eyed the wall again.

Demy was currently following Elaeus. "Aheh… you'll help us out… right?"

Elaeus scanned over the scene. There was still popcorn everywhere, and the butter had left yellow stains all over the floor. Hats and lipstick and who knows what else also littered the floor, having become separated from their owners in all the slipping and sliding.

He smiled slightly, before also heading out the door.

"…Shit," Demy moaned, leaning against his own mop.

Braig shot him a look of hatred. "Shut up. Start cleaning… and stop cussing. You're still not good at it."

* * *

**A/N:** Ah. I feel so sorry for those people trying to watch the movie. Partially because after one look at the title, it's obvious that that movie must have sucked beyond belief. And partially because they couldn't get snacks and couldn't watch the movie. 

I have big ideas for the next chapter or two. Can you say 'possibly-sadistic-girl-drags-water-avoiding-boy-to-water-park'? Wow... that's a mouthful. Whatever. You don't have to say it. But it could be coming up. Yeaaaah... amazing the ideas going to Disney's Blizzard Beach for the first time gives me.

Oh, and about Ale's little aversion to water... well, he gets fire powers as a Nobody... opposite of fire is water... all that jazz. I figured it would be funny to make him have a little almost-phobia. But hey, that's just my own screwed sense of humor.

Once again--not updating without five reviews. You're all so good to me when it comes to reviews, so that shouldn't be a problem. Never in my wildest dreams did I picture that this result of my utter boredom would become a pretty big hit.

So yeah, a HUGE thanks to all of you reviewing this. I'd give you cookies, but I already ate them. Yup. Never said I was that nice. Just said you were.

**_Read and review, just read and review. 'Cause you know I won't stop bugging you about it until you do. Oh... crap... I didn't mean to rhyme there. And now I'll stop wasting space.._**


	6. Of Revenge and Payback

**A/N:** Well, I'm surprised.

Despite the fact that I'm visiting my dad, I've actually managed to keep track of updates pretty well. I can get on the computer on a fairly daily basis and such.

Aaaaannnnnd... wowzers. I managed to get out this chapter right in time for the Fourth of July.

Not that they're celebrating it in this fic. No, that's not going to happen. But consider it my little Fourth of July present from me to you. No matter what country you're in.

There. You had your moment of fluff from me. Now take your dumb present and read it.

Ale's such a perverted pain in the ass in this. Makes it funny, though.

Yes. My bad mouth is at it again--more so than usual. Too bad for you that I don't give a care about the fact that my vocabulary is absorbing all the colors of the rainbow.

Now, like I said: Read.

* * *

The end of the school year was approaching fast. No more homework. No more worrying about being late. No more pondering if your overweight language professor really was wearing a wig. It was no mystery that most students were usually cheerful around this time. 

But today, the ecstasy and bliss of the nearing last day of school had been put on hold.

Especially for everyone's favorite temperamental blonde female.

All thanks to the ever-rising string of the mercury element rising in the thermometer hanging on the wall parallel to her bed, blatantly showing 97 degrees Fahrenheit on this lovely Saturday afternoon.

Arlene scowled as she fanned herself with the book that had previously been lying on her bedside table. There hadn't been a heat wave like this in _years_. And to think—it wasn't even to the hottest part of the day yet, seeing as it was only noon!

And of all days for her air conditioning to break down…

Setting down the book, she momentarily lifted up her hair that was sticking to the back of her neck, sweaty and matted. The girl then grabbed a glass of ice water—that the ice had melted out of long since—that was balanced precariously near the foot of the bed, pressing it against her bared neck.

A scowl darkened her face when it didn't provide the relief she'd been hoping for.

Her eyes fairly narrowed like a predator's as she began to scan her room for something—_anything_, in fact—that would make the heat seem less extreme.

She saw… nothing. Sighing, Arlene grumbled to herself about how positively stupid everything was today.

The sun was stupid… it was choosing to burn extra brightly today, thus making it so dang hot.

The air conditioner was stupid. It had chosen today, of all days to choose from, to break down.

Her parents were stupid for not doing anything to help the air conditioner other than calling someone to fix it.

The person who was supposed to fix the air conditioner was DEFINITELY stupid. Oh, they were coming to fix it. Only a week later from today.

And the heat itself was perhaps the stupidest of all—it was daring to get in her way.

In fact, the only thing she could think of off the top of her head that rivaled the heat for being an idiot was Ale. Yep. He was always stupid, in her opinion.

As she saw the temperature on her thermometer rise another few degrees, she let out a groan. And that's when the idea hit her. She glanced around hurriedly, as though expecting to see hidden cameras in the corners of her bedroom.

Though her window lacked curtains, it did face the backyard of her house, so she certainly didn't expect anyone to look through it…

Hints of a smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth as she stood up, practically yanking off her T-shirt and shorts, stripping down to only her undergarments. It was in the privacy of her own room; she saw nothing wrong with it.

Sitting down in the middle of the floor as her TV blared on some random soap opera—it had been too hot for her to pay attention to whatever crap was playing—Arlene gave a content sigh.

Ah. Much better.

As she closed her eyes, relieved to have escaped from the dreadful heat, she could've sworn she heard a faint tapping noise.

Her smirk was replaced by a frown as her eyes remained closed. She tried to pass off the noise as her imagination. The heat from a few minutes ago had probably made her somewhat delirious.

_Tap tap._

No, there it was again. Louder this time, so she was certain that she hadn't imagined it.

Still, Arlene's eyes remained clamped tight. Probably just a bird or squirrel, or… something.

_**TAP!**_

A squirrel that was going to end up with a stick shoved up its ass if it didn't quit. That's what it had to be.

Her frown changed once more, this time into a scowl as her eyelids snapped back open. Growling, she vaguely wondered why she couldn't have a peaceful day—just once! She stood back up and faced the window, to see a familiar mass of wild red spikes and a cocky jackass grin, along with pale fingers tapping lazily against the glass.

His grin widened as he saw her notice him, and she could hear his mocking laughter even through the glass.

It took her a minute just to realize what Ale was laughing at exactly. Surely her annoyed reaction about the window tapping hadn't been all that funny? I mean, he saw her annoyed more often than anyone else.

Her eyes widened in horror as she finally grasped what, precisely, he was clutching his sides about: She was still in her undergarments. And he'd been watching the whooooole time.

Immediately, a scream of fury and outrage escaped her lips as she attempted to both grab something to cover herself up with and manage to hit the guffawing red-head right outside her bedroom window at the same time.

Finally, her fumbling hands managed to grasp a bathrobe hanging loosely in her closet. The minute she was certain that nothing was exposed other than her face, arms, and legs, she turned back to the window, glaring daggers at him.

Throwing up the top of the window, she attempted to hurl a punch in his direction, but the boy merely sniggered again and nimbly stepped just out of reach.

"PERVERT!" Arlene screamed at him. "YOU BASTARD!" At this point the blonde let out an intangible stream of steady curses—most of which she'd made up herself, just for the occasion.

Ale merely seemed to be continuing on with his trademark grin as he examined one hand's fingernails with little expressed interest. One would almost think he wasn't listening… save for the fact that with every profane word she threw at him, his grin continued to widen.

It was a freaking miracle that his grin was even fitting onto his face, actually.

As he then moved on to examine the other hand's nails, he finally spoke when she paused her flow of profanity to breathe. Giving a look of mock innocence, he proceeded to act surprised.

"Whaaaaat?" he inquired. "I just didn't feel like using the front door was all! So I came around to the back, and…" His cocky grin widened yet again. "You know, I joked to Demy once about stripping for a little birdie outside my window… but I had no _idea_ you actually did such things literally, Arlene!"

Believe it or not, most of that actually was true. For some reason or other, he just hadn't been in the mood to use the front door, so he'd hopped over the gate to the backyard, and planned on going in through there. But just as he'd passed by her bedroom window, she'd stood up and stripped down to her undergarments.

Thus leading them to their current situation.

The girl's electric blue eyes flashed dangerously. "You… you're…" she seethed.

Ale gave another blink of mock surprise. "I'm what? Enjoying your current outfit?" he finished, snickering at the fact that she was now in a bathrobe. "Why, yes, I am."

"Your outfit isn't exactly right for the weather, either," she sneered, taking note of his black baggy jeans and black medium-sleeve shirt. For a moment, she was startled out of her fury by his choice of clothing. "Aren't you hot?"

"Why thank you! You know most girls do seem to think so…"

"GO AWAY!" she roared, annoyed by such a comment coming from him. Of all the nerve…

The red-head let out another cackle before running the other way, scrambling back over the gate.

---

Arlene slammed her window closed again, every inch of herself loathing that boy more than usual.

So that had been his payback for her bailing on him at the movie theater. Whether or not the happenings had been unintentional, the blonde didn't care. Only one thing mattered at the moment.

She wanted revenge. And damn it, she wanted it now!

As she sat back down on the floor, she dedicated her whole mind to thinking up a fitting plot.

Finally, it came to her. Something that would be worse than the sprinklers going off. A _water_ park. And she'd drag along Demy, as well. Sure, he ticked her off—but Arlene knew he wore on Ale's nerves as well.

She already knew Ale's phone number. Partially because she'd always gone to school with him, ever since Kindergarten. And partially because he was always practically shoving his number at her, just to bug the shit out of her.

Either way, she picked up the phone in her room, biting her lip with pleasure as she waited for him to pick up.

Finally, she heard the phone pick up. First there was a "Hello?", before a crashing sound came, and a distant yelp of pain was in the background.

Arlene snickered. Apparently, the idiot had dropped the phone on his foot.

Finally, the phone was picked back up, and she could hear Ale's chastened voice again. "Hello?" he inquired again.

Arlene grinned to herself, and let her plan unfold.

"Hiiiii, Ale!" she cooed.

When he didn't respond right away, she was positive of his uncertainty. "Who is this? Wait… Arlene, is that you?"

Arlene's eyes narrowed in pleasure as she continued on with her act. "Of course, Silly Willy!" she told him, forcing out a giggle to help sound more convincing. "Look, I had such a great time at the movie with you, that I thought we should go somewhere again!"

"You did? And now… wait… what about… what?"

"Oh, forget that whole window thing. Look—it'll be my treat. Today, we'll go out somewhere—but it'll be a surprise. I'll even walk you there," she continued to purr.

"You're not… uh…" Yup. Arlene was near certain that by this point, he must've been pondering if she'd accidentally shut the window back down on her head and given herself brain damage of some sort.

Finally, he gave an answer. "I guess that'd be great. See you in a bit, babe!" He snorted, before hanging up the phone.

How _dare_ he call her that?

She took a deep breath, calming herself a little. She'd be paying him back soon enough.

---

Ale knew something was up.

In all his memory, NEVER had Arlene talked like that.

And after what had happened by her bedroom window, well… she was definitely planning something.

Grinning, he leaned against the wall. He would play along, for now. Anything that she could throw at him, he was quite positive that he'd throw something right back at her. After all, he'd done so after the sprinkler incident, hadn't he?

For her to be so willing to put on such an act, she had to be planning something excruciatingly diabolic this time, though.

Oh, how he loved a challenge.

* * *

**A/N:** Oh goody. Annoying the shit out of Larxene... Arlene... whatever the heck you want to call her... is always fun. 

Yippee for water parks.

Ha. But it looks like I'm letting Reno plan something for retaliation...

Ah. Whatever.

You know I want another five reviews. Shouldn't be too hard, right? That can be YOUR present. Yeeeeeep. It's better to give than to receive. So I'm waiting for the reviews to be given.

Otherwise I won't GIVE another update.

**_Yeah. Happy Fourth, everyone. Just... don't go around your neighborhood in hopes of coming across a situation like Ale's. It's not polite to do that. So save it for Halloween or something. THAT'S when everyone gets to act stupid and rude._**


	7. Look Who's Drowning

**A/N:** Oy. Yes. I DID just update again. But before you go all "Awwwww, how sweet!" know that it's mainly because today's my last day with my dad, and I'm going back to boring ol' Alabama where my mom is tomorrow--and I don't really feel like not having all that I've typed up when I get on my computer over there.

So, I got my lazy ass in gear and finished up this chapter. It's not near so long as I'd have liked, but oh well.

My personal favorite part of it? Ienzo... or Zexion... whatever the hell you want to call him... anyways, I like his little... observations that you'll read in this chapter. I have absolutely no idea why I wrote that part. I guess because I just felt like it.

Yeah. Whatever. I'm sure you want to strangle me right about now, since it would more than likely shut up my little rant here.

**Disclaimer:** Oh, come on, folks. Do I REALLY have to repeat this every time? You've all got brains. Use them.

* * *

"Holy shit. Holy fucking shit, Arlene." 

That was the line he'd been saying repetitively for the last eight minutes and twenty-six seconds.

She was standing off to the side of him, that insanely sadistic grin plastered across her face.

He gagged.

"A water park… a fucking water park…" His nose wrinkled in absolute disgust. The sprinklers had been one thing, but this… _this_… required drastic measures.

Three others were with them—Ienzo, Dilan, and Demy.

The lilac-haired boy gave the slightest roll of his eyes. "And you dragged us along here, _because_…?" he questioned Demy. His tone showed as little interest as always, bored and drawling.

Demy thought for a moment, and then shrugged. Heck, like he knew the answer to that himself. In truth, he'd just wanted other witnesses to be along if he ended up being murdered. It wasn't that he didn't trust Arlene… but when _she_ actually asked _him_ to come somewhere with her, he just… didn't trust her.

Little did he know that he was practically just another tool in annoying the shit out of Ale.

"Holy shit…"

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Is that ALL you can say?" she half-sneered.

"Holy shit…"

"I guess it is," Dilan answered for her.

"Shut up, Dilan," Arlene and Ienzo both responded, almost simultaneously. Now, why Demy had invited Dilan was the _true_ mystery. The guy was, as a whole, disliked throughout their school. Seldom speaking, whenever he did decide to talk, whatever he happened to say was of little interest for the poor victims that happened to be within hearing range of him.

As she turned to face the wide-eyed red-head, Arlene smirked deviously. "How about we go for a swim?" she suggested innocently.

At that, he managed to snap back to reality. "I'd rather amputate my left leg and serve it on a silver platter," Ale muttered bitterly.

"Well, that can always be arranged…" Arlene whispered under her breath, before turning back to the teal-eyed boy. "Oh, come on, why not?" she teased.

"Because: I. Can't. Swim." He crossed his arms huffily. "Memorized that?" (**A/N:** Yes, I HAVE managed to fit in a varied form of his catch phrase. The only reason I didn't use the traditional "Got it memorized?" line is because I figured I didn't want to get him hooked on that addictive phrase _too_ early.)

She gave a gasp of mock-surprise. Taking a few taunting steps towards him, she mockingly put one hand to her heart. "You _can't_?" she exclaimed, as though she absolutely could not believe such a statement. "Why, I had _no_ idea whatsoever!"

Ale rolled his eyes once more. She was going through a hell of a lot to rub his nerves raw. "Oh, I'm sure…" was his sour response.

"…" She was silent for a minute more, her electric blue irises locking with his teal ones. The sadistic grin upon her face hadn't budged an inch. "How about we go for a swim anyways? No better time to learn than the present!"

He backed away a few steps. "Arlene, you'll get me in that pool over my dead body," he protested. Shit, this wasn't going well.

_That could also be arranged…_ the blonde thought to herself as she took an intimidating step towards him. Without arguing over the matter anymore, she got a grip on one of his arms, beginning to drag him to the nearest swimming pool.

"Let go of me," he growled, digging his feet firmly in place. However, much to his displeasure, he continued to inch forward as the girl simply tugged harder. She'd already forced him into the swimwear shop in the same manner. The only reason he was in a pair of swim trunks at the moment was due to the fact that he was quite positive that the pain-loving girl before him would have murdered him on the spot, had he refused to buy a pair at the shop and put them on in one of the restrooms. After all, she couldn't have his stubborn streak interfering with her glorious plans of revenge.

Her eyes brightened. "Let go? All right!" she replied sweetly, though managed to sneak in an amused chuckle as she pried her fingers from his arm, using one hand to pull back a loose strand of hair. The opposite hand happened to brush by his back, 'accidentally' giving him one hard shove into the pool that they were now at the edge of. "Oops," she called, not seeming sorry in the least.

---

Ienzo was sitting on a near-by bench, paying no attention to the scene playing before him. Instead, he firmly clutched in his hand a few pieces of paper and a pencil. His lilac-colored hair still in its familiar position—hanging down in front of his right eye—he appeared to be enjoying himself as he scribbled down a sentence or two every so often.

Raising both eyebrows (Not that you could see any eyebrow besides his left one…) as he added the finishing touches to whatever project he'd been so consumed by, the smallest trace of a smirk crossed his features.

It seemed he had been writing a little analysis of a few of the students at school that he was familiar with. Let's take a look at what dear Zexy wrote:

"_The Imbeciles of the World_

_Dilan: Stupid uninteresting little bastard that no one cares about._

_Dulor: Stuck-up little moron that's obsessed with playing card-games that are so simple beyond belief, it's not even funny. Honestly, I don't understand why he acts as though he's such a hero for winning a game of Go-Fish._

_Even: Ugh—such a science-consumed boy was never seen. He constantly 'shushes' everyone in class, failing to notice that he's making just as much, if not even more, noise than said people in class._

_Demy: Whiny, noisy little bitch. The option of leaping off of a cliff into shark-infested waters sounds more appealing than sticking around to listen to any of his so-called music._

_Arlene: This one also fits into the 'bitch' category. Power-hungry, demanding, most likely possessing anger-management issues, and blonde… she's definitely an accurate example of the average girl, I'd say._

_Ale: Cocky little fucker, chased around by most girls who behave as though he's a god brought down to the planet. It's widely agreed that he ripped off a combination of Sonic the Hedgehog and Knuckles the Echidna's hairstyles. Only heaven knows how much hair-gel is needed on a daily basis for him._

_Elaeus: He's silent—in fact, I don't believe he's ever said more than fifteen words in a day to any single person. One could easily classify him as the 'strong, silent type'. Or perhaps he's just an idiot that lacks in the ability of speech._

_Braig: Shitty little surfer-wannabe. I can't exactly recall the precise number of times that he's been held back in his classes…_

_Roxas: The always common 'new kid'. He's absolutely clueless in most of the goings-on around the area—it's so obvious that someone will come along with every intention of making him look like a fool due to his ignorance._

_Ramiual: Honestly? I don't believe he has any odd sexual preferences, much as it is rumored amongst the student-body that he prefers males. He's never really shown any interest towards neither boys, nor girls. However, I am certain that he enjoys the color pink more than most females around, and he's a fruitcake for talking with his plants on a daily basis._

_Sai: What can I say, other than the fact that he's an absolute blood-crazed lunatic?"_

Ienzo carefully rolled the pieces of paper up, looking quite satisfied with his observations. They were quite truthful, that was for sure.

---

The blonde gave an amused snicker before turning on her heel to walk away. Ale could surely get himself out of the pool.

As she walked, she waited for the inevitable sound of him surfacing, panting and throwing all kinds of curses known, and some unknown, to mankind at her. When no such noises came forth, she narrowed her eyebrows in frustration. What, was he trying to arouse her curiosity enough so that she walked back to the pool and he could pull her in as well?

That wouldn't be happening on Arlene's watch.

However, her walking finally slowed, and eventually came to a complete stop. Why wasn't he saying ANYTHING? She didn't even hear him gasping for breath!

She turned back around and walked a few steps back in the direction of the pool—just enough so that she could see what Ale was doing in there.

Scowling, she crossed her arms as she saw him sinking further down into the depths of the pool. The asshole hadn't been lying—he really _couldn't_ swim!

Well, it wasn't her problem now. Some big heroic lifeguard would jump in and save him any moment now, and it'd be just like another Baywatch. Only… she couldn't quite picture the lifeguard running in slow motion to go save Ale in a bikini.

The seconds ticked by, and still no one else seemed to realize that the red-head was, in fact, drowning. Her breath came out as a hiss. Shit. What was the point in all this plotting against him if she was forced to save him now?

Letting out a low growl under her breath, she finally dived into the pool. Drat—this made two times that she'd been completely soaked to the bone within two weeks of each other.

After a few minutes of struggling—the only reason she was having trouble was due to the fact that her clothes were weighing her down somewhat, thus making it difficult to swim—she finally managed to drag the boy up and over to the side of the pool. Narrowing her eyes, she noted that Demy, Ienzo, and Dilan were simply watching.

"Oh, don't all jump up to help at once!" she snapped sarcastically, now pulling herself up to the side as well.

Demy grinned like the pain in the ass he was. "Okay!" he agreed, lazily taking a seat on the ground. However, he scooted back a little bit in fear when her blue eyes narrowed dangerously.

As the girl began to examine one of Ale's wrists for a pulse, Ienzo gave an uninterested yawn. "Perhaps he needs mouth-to-mouth?" he suggested with his usual lack of care for whatever happened to be going on.

She nodded, figuring someone else would volunteer to be the dear, kind soul that decided to help the boy whose bluish-green eyes were currently clamped tight. "All right. So, which one of you wants to…?" she paused, glancing around at the three boys.

None of them even made the slightest move over.

"Oh, come ON!" Arlene shouted at them. "You're going to make me do EVERYTHING?"

"First of all," Ienzo began. "You're the one who pushed him in, in the first place, if I do remember correctly. And—"

"And none of us _guys_ want to kiss another _guy_!" Demy finished, appearing sickened by the mere thought.

Arlene slammed her fist down onto the concrete; her eyes now narrowed to nothing more than two mere slits. She was going to freaking kill them all, one of these days. Letting out a shriek of enraged fury, she bent down over the red-head, fiercely pressed her lips to his, and…

Right in the middle of the mentioned procedure, teal eyes fluttered open, positively alight with amusement. Certainly, a smirk would've been plastered over his face—had the whole face actually been visible.

Arlene let out another screech of rage, pushing away from him, her face matching his hair in color. "HOW _DARE_ YOU, YOU LYING LITTLE SON OF A—"

He merely cocked his head to one side as he also stood up. The smirk was visible by this time. "What? I let you push me into the pool, so I wanted a payment in return. My choice of payment was a kiss from you," he replied, the same false-innocent tone that she herself had been using earlier now oozing from his own voice. "I had to get that kiss somehow—so I figured your deep worry for my safety would prompt you to kiss me if you saw me in danger!"

"IT WASN'T A KISS!" the blonde roared. "YOU PRETENED YOU WERE DROWNING, YOU LITTLE BASTARD, JUST SO THAT I'D BE FORCED TO GIVE YOU FUCKING MOUTH-TO-MOUTH!"

Ale snickered. "Now why would I do something like that?" he inquired sweetly. It looked like he'd won this round of who paid whom back after all.

…Or not.

For as soon as he turned back around, Arlene promptly pushed him back into the pool.

* * *

**A/N:** Aaaah. I don't know who had it worse: Ale being pushed into the pool in the first place, or Arlene being tricked into 'kissing' him. But damn, it's fun to make them as miserable as hell. 

You may notice that a few would-be members of the Organization are missing from Ienzo's report--that would be, himself, and Xemmy. Well, obviously Xemnas... Xehanort... once again, whatever...was in a whole different world at the time. And it's kind of apparent that no one really includes an observation of themself in their own report.

Now, if any artists are present, I'd prefer you listen up: For absolutely no reason other than that I am bored out of my freaking mind, I'm going to hold a little contest, all right? The first person who makes a passable fan-art for this fan fic will get a guest role in my next chapter. Just let me know in your review, or e-mail me, if you're interested in participating, okay? I'd like the fan-art to be drawn nicely. That means I'm not going to count a 'scribble-scrabble' as a passable work of art. I'll post here once the winner has been decided so that the rest of you don't have to keep working for nothing.

Yes, as you've already guessed, I want five more reviews before updating again. And of course, I'll have to wait a bit longer after that, most likely, until a winner for the fan-art contest has been decided.

Thanks for reading, guys. xD I'm glad you find the random stuff spawned from my brain on pointless car rides amusing.

**_Yeah. Read. Review. You know the drill. And all of you skilled at art in every way that I am not? You've got a nice shiny guest role for the next chapter waiting for you if you do a good job on that fan-art. Hey, I'm not begging. I'm just holding a friendly competition. So, you wanna flame me on that, be my guest. I still haven't had my rabies shots, you know._**


	8. Camping?

**A/N:** Ohmygawd. I'm alive. Shocking, no?

More shock: I got my lazy butt around to updating.

Before you go all "RAWRMUSTKILL." on me, let me testify: I've been BUSY. One of my friends I know personally had their brother die. And when I say die, I mean "run over by a car to the point where he wasn't recognizable at the hospital". I don't want your pity. I'm just saying.

Not too long after, my friend online, Grease, had a grandfather die.

I felt down. I felt stressed. Thus, I didn't update.

Wow. Such cheerful news I'm bringing you.

To top it all off, I've been pushed to my limits this week by running for student council. I found out today since the results are in that, of course despite all my efforts, I've lost. But I won't go into detail about that. Unless you want me to. Whatever.

I've had projects due like you wouldn't believe, and have abruptly come to the conclusion that eighth grade sucks. Majorly.

Anyways, more about your update: It's not near as long as it should be. The guest role doesn't even start till the end of it. Rest assured, I'm going to have another chapter with more guest-roley goodness in it.

I figured you've waited long enough to see most of the characters together, and my little...plot here is going to bring a good many of them in. Whee, what fun.

Don't demand I update immediately. PLEASE. It irks me to no end, and then I get mad and end up trying to decapitate some poor random person. Spare the random person, please. I don't want to be thrown into jail for murder at such a young age.

**Disclaimer:** No. I don't own it. Stop trying to sue me. I've got no money to give you anyways. Obviously. Why else would I want to waste my life on the computer?

* * *

Now of course, it was mentioned that summer was fast-approaching, what with the temperature rising constantly and the teenagers' excitement growing, until it had pitched to a fever.

Today, finally, that last long-awaited day of school had arrived.

The noise throughout the educational institution was positively deafening as the bell finally gave a shrill screech, notifying every student within hearing range that their torture was on temporary suspension, and that summer had officially arrived for them.

Adolescents flooded the hallways, and anyone who fell was more than likely trampled down like a pancake in the record time of only five seconds.

The exuberance about the arrival of vacation-time had spread to almost everyone—_especially _Demy. Not that he wasn't usually cheerful anyways…But over the course of the last week, his attitude had skyrocketed until it was a wonder he hadn't already imploded from whatever was keeping him so upbeat.

As he raced throughout the hallways to approach Braig—for the two could still be considered buddies of a sort, seeing as they hung around each other and chatted, despite the fact that arguments were frequent amongst them as well—he grinned when his aforementioned friend was spotted by his locker.

Increasing speed, then coming to a dramatic skid-stop right beside Braig, Demy grinned. Shortly after though, his grin turned to a pout when he saw that his friend either hadn't seen, or just didn't care, about his show of energy and enthusiasm.

The musician coughed softly once or twice, in an attempt to grasp Braig's attention.

"Ahem…"

When that didn't work, he finally gave a heavy sigh, and took it to the next level.

"AHEM!"

"Huh?"

The brunette grinned triumphantly, practically jumping up and down with his eagerness to go on and explain what was up.

Braig raised a doubtful eyebrow. "…What the heck are you so happy for?"

"Three words: Camping. Trip," Demy explained, his Cheshire Cat-grin continuing to spread across his face, like a virus.

The boy had put an extra emphasis on the '_ing_', as though it were the most important part of the word.

The older teen finally sighed, "Demy…" desperately fighting the urge to just go on and call him 'Dumb ass'. "That was only two words."

The blondish-brownish-haired musician waved the fact aside, as though it meant nothing—and to him, it probably did.

"So?" the boy went on excitedly. "It's not every day that the opportunity to go camping comes along!" he nearly squealed. "So, anyways—I've been able to reserve this awesome spot in the woods for the tents to be set up at. It's near the river, not too far from a hill…"

Braig gave the slightest roll of his eyes and he opened his mouth to protest—but it seemed their conversation was overheard by another person who had already rushed through in gathering what remained of their supplies in their locker and had a few minutes to spare before leaving the prison of an educational building.

"_Camping_?"

Ramiual's voice.

It wasn't too hard as to guess why the word sparked such interest in his voice. After all, camping involved nature. Plants, wildlife, streams…it was his kind of activity.

Braig furrowed his eyebrows, his forehead wrinkling somewhat. "What's it to you, Pansy?"

"I want in," he replied rather simply, ignoring the 'Pansy' comment for the time being.

Demyx grinned. Braig scowled.

"It's not even set that we're _going_ at all!" the oldest boy of them protested.

A familiar red-head paused as he sauntered by the scene, pondering only briefly as to whether or not he should inquire as to what was going on. A moment later, Ale was there, arms crossed and his usual 'I'm-a-smart-ass' grin set in place. "Going where?" he inquired innocently.

Before Braig even had a chance to yell out 'Nowhere!', Demy cut in excitedly. "Camping!" he answered.

The teal-eyed boy thought this over, and looked slightly disappointed. He'd hoped for something a bit more interesting than just that. Camping had never really struck him as that fun of an activity…he'd much rather stay where there were electronic devices around. The outdoors? Hmph. The indoors seemed a much more eventful place.

"Jeez. That's it?" Ale sighed, shaking his head in a downcast manner.

Braig grumbled something inaudibly, before taking a deep breath of relief. "Finally. Dude, you side with me! Demy—what in the world possessed you to go camping?"

Ale gave a small roll of the eyes, blocking out the argument that followed and instead grinning as he spotted a mass of bright, blond spikes. Instinctively, his hand shot out and he grabbed the younger boy by the shoulder, spinning him around.

"Roxas!" What could he say? It was the last day of school and he was thrilled to have a friend who could keep him from being forced to actually have to listen to the argument between Demy and Braig on something as trivial as camping.

"…Hi?"

Roxas blinked once or twice, grateful that he would have no more school for awhile, but not quite so energetic as his red-haired friend.

"How about we hang out this weekend? Y'know…doing something like…not camping?"

The younger boy was just about to inquire as to what exactly was wrong with camping, but a temperamental blonde beat him to it.

She had her backpack slung over her shoulders, eager to get out of the 'hell-hole', as the school was so affectionately called. "What's wrong with camping? It's not as though there are any swimming pools out there," she quipped with a devious smile.

The red-head narrowed his eyes. "I'm sure that just breaks _your_ heart."

"It might," she shrugged, flashing a mock, sweet smile. Turning to Demy, she arched an eyebrow. "When's the trip set for?"

"WE NEVER SAID WE WERE GOING!" Braig thundered, only to be ignored by the rest of the group.

Demy arched _both_ eyebrows at Arlene, looking amused. "Who said I was inviting you?"

Arlene's face darkened for the briefest of moments, and Demy wisely stepped back a few steps. "I said I was coming," she informed him knowingly. "The end," she added for dramatic effect.

The musician nodded. He'd intended for her to come anyways, but even had he not right from the start, he knew better than to argue with her.

Heck, when she wanted something her way, she got it.

And of course, the fact that she had made the decision to go made Ale have second thoughts.

He stroked his chin thoughtfully for a few more minutes, before his eyes brightened playfully. "I think…I've suddenly changed my mind," he declared. "Count me in for camping."

Braig's face was set into a scowl that was in danger of becoming permanent, but he'd long since given up protesting all of this.

"Sudden decision, indeed," Dulor noted as he threw them a passing glance, pausing in the hallway with his knapsack slung across one shoulder. Ienzo was with him, and Elaeus as well, but both, unsurprisingly, chose to keep silent.

Demy was on the verge of going into a fit of hysterical cackles. This was turning into quite a gathering—all because he mentioned it to the one person who hadn't even wanted to go camping in the first place. "H-hey, all of you, come camping with us?" he managed to get out in-between his attempts to hold his delight back.

The three exchanged glances, before Dulor, always the gentleman, gave an indifferent nod. "Tomorrow, then," he agreed, having no doubt that one of them would somehow or other get in contact with him to let him know a more specific time.

Ramiual also bid his farewells, and Arlene stalked off, her mood down to a dangerous low again since Ale had taken it upon himself to walk her home—despite her oh-so-polite ways of telling him to shove off and leave her alone.

Braig was still positively fuming. He did NOT want to go camping. And now EVERYONE was going, it seemed. Why did these people not enjoy the beauty of staying at home and being a lazy-ass?

"Gee. Looks like we're going camping!" Demy announced cheerfully, as though it were a huge surprise.

The older boy snorted, shoving the brunette—hard. "Shut up."

---

Meanwhile, a certain two girls walked through the doors of the school, into the much-welcomed sunshine. Oh, sweet freedom.

"Soooo…" the first girl began, looking over curiously at her friend. "They all said they were going camping?"

"Yep!"

"Well, what's so great about that?"

"Ale said he was coming, too. Duh." She stated it as though it was the simplest reason there was in the world.

"Shay…" The first girl sighed, shaking her head and opening her mouth to say something—but she thought better of it and closed her mouth again for a moment, before coming up with a better question. "What about…?"

The second girl's eyes brightened at the prospect of teasing. "Ieennnnzoooo?" she cooed tauntingly.

Girl number one reddened a bit, staring down at her shoes. "…Maybe. Just tell me anyways."

"I'm not saying anything if you don't admit it directly—you only want to know more because of Ienzo!" she cackled.

Blaze was resisting the urge to smack her friend upside the head, as it was. "Fine. Is. Ienzo. Coming. Too?" she growled out, emphasizing each word.

"Mmm, he sure is!" Shay answered ecstatically.

Blaze brightened for a moment, then paused. "We don't even know…where they're camping…"

Shay waved the fact around. It was insignificant to her. "I heard them say it would be near the river. How hard could it be to find them from there?"

Blaze finally cracked a smile. Oh, the lengths teenage girls would go through just to 'accidentally' run into someone. "All right. Let's get ready," she agreed.

* * *

**A/N:** Yes. It's rushed. Oh well. The next few chapters will be better.

xD Blazonix, Shaylex, I hope you don't mind me portraying you as fangirls. Because fangirls are fun. Ch'yeah. Not like, rabid fangirls or anything. Don't worry.

So, I've been _really_ down in the dumps, guys. My sadistic sense of cheerfulness is only just now starting to come back to me. Reviews really would cheer me up. Since you've waited so long, I won't up the amount from five to ten--it'll stay at five. Though if you reviewed more, it might cheer me up some. Honestly, ninety-three reviews already? I'm shocked. In a good way. I never thought this fic would be such a hit. When I see all of your reviews, it makes me feel better than I have in a long while. I don't think you all understand how much it really means to me when you write something in that little box.

Sappy much? Yes. Do I care? Nope.

**_Thanks for putting up with such a long wait for a review. Don't worry--I'm still livin' here._**


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